15 is enough for the ACC for now

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford, left, and NASDAQ head of listings Bob McCooey chat before the ringing of the closing bell on Monday, July 1, 2013 in New York. The ACC visited the NASDAQ Market Site in Times Square to officially announce the addition of its three new members in Notre Dame, Pitt and Syracuse. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
— AP

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford, left, and NASDAQ head of listings Bob McCooey chat before the ringing of the closing bell on Monday, July 1, 2013 in New York. The ACC visited the NASDAQ Market Site in Times Square to officially announce the addition of its three new members in Notre Dame, Pitt and Syracuse. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
/ AP

"Give the commissioner credit because when they went to expand this time, these were basketball decisions," Brey said.

ACC football has been generally perceived as the weakest of the five major football conferences. The league hasn't won a national title in football since Florida State in 1999 and its record in BCS games is 3-13.

"What we are striving to do is to be known as the strongest and best across the board," Swofford said. "Nothing wrong with being really good in both.

"I don't think the conference has to have a label per se. That usually has to do with where you've had the most success from a national perspective historically. Our league has had more national success historically in basketball than in football, though we've had our success in football as well."

For Pittsburgh and Syracuse the process of changing conferences started, at least publicly, in 2010. The ACC invited the two of them the weekend of Sept. 17.

Still, this day was anything but anticlimactic for the Panthers and Orange.

"As much as we've planned and we're excited about it, this became real for us today, and we're making a big deal about it," Pitt Athletic Director Steve Pederson said.